The Supreme Court's conservative majority on May 11 vacated a lower-court injunction that had blocked Alabama from using its 2023 congressional map, which…
The Supreme Court's conservative majority on May 11 vacated a lower-court injunction that had blocked Alabama from using its 2023 congressional map, which contains only one majority-Black district [1]. The order clears Alabama to proceed under that map for the 2026 election cycle, effectively eliminating the second majority-Black district that a remedial court order had previously required [2]. Three liberal justices dissented. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in dissent, warned that the Court was displacing a protective injunction even as voting in Alabama's May 19 primary had already begun [3].
The case, Allen v. Milligan, has a long procedural history rooted in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A federal district court had found Alabama's earlier congressional map racially discriminatory and ordered the state to draw a second majority-Black district. Alabama's legislature responded with the 2023 map, which civil rights groups and Democracy Docket challenged as non-compliant [3]. That challenge produced the injunction the Supreme Court vacated Monday. The Court's order did not rule on the merits; it remanded the case for reconsideration in light of the Court's April 29 decision in Callais, a separate redistricting case that has reshaped the analytical framework for VRA Section 2 claims [1].
The practical consequence is immediate and concrete. Governor Kay Ivey, following the Court's order, scheduled a special primary for August 11 covering four congressional districts affected by the map change [2]. The affected seat had been held by Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat [2]. By permitting Alabama to run the 2026 cycle under a map previously found discriminatory by a lower court, the order accelerates the downstream effects of Callais on minority-district litigation nationwide and injects direct uncertainty into House control calculations for the current cycle [3].
The remand returns the case to the lower court, which must now evaluate Alabama's 2023 map under the Callais standard, a framework that civil rights litigants contend narrows the conditions under which Section 2 requires majority-minority districts [1]. Democracy Docket has signaled it will continue to press the litigation on remand [3]. The split primary structure, with a May 19 date for some districts and an August 11 date for four others, adds administrative complexity that voting-rights advocates argue compounds the harm to affected voters [2]. The lower court's timeline on remand remains undefined.
—
**Meta Description:** The Supreme Court vacated an injunction protecting Alabama's second majority-Black district, remanding the case under Callais and triggering a split 2026 primary.
**Slug:** scotus-vacates-alabama-majority-black-district-injunction
**Tags:** Legal News, Appellate Development, Allen v. Milligan, United States, Alabama, Washington DC, Voting Rights Act, Redistricting, VRA Section 2, U.S. Supreme Court, Alabama Legislature, Democracy Docket, Sonia Sotomayor, Kay Ivey, Shomari Figures
—
**Metadata:**
– subject: Allen v. Milligan, Alabama Redistricting Emergency Relief
– subject_type: Appellate Development
– date: 2026-05-11
– jurisdiction: federal
– country: United States
– region: Alabama / District of Columbia
– city: Washington
– key_people: Kay Ivey, Steve Marshall, Shomari Figures, Sonia Sotomayor
– key_organizations: U.S. Supreme Court, Alabama Legislature, Democracy Docket
– themes: Voting Rights Act, Redistricting, VRA Section 2
– significance: The order extends the reach of Callais to eliminate a court-mandated majority-Black congressional seat mid-cycle, with direct implications for VRA Section 2 litigation and 2026 House control.
—
**References:**
[1] Ring, Kevin. (2026, May 11). Court clears way for Alabama to use congressional map blocked by lower court as racially discriminatory. SCOTUSblog. https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/05/court-clears-way-for-alabama-to-use-congressional-map-blocked-by-lower-court-as-racially-discrim/
[2] CNN Politics. (2026, May 11). Supreme Court allows Alabama to eliminate congressional district held by a Black Democrat. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/11/politics/supreme-court-alabama-black-democratic-congressman
[3] Democracy Docket. (2026, May 11). SCOTUS greenlights 11th-hour Alabama redistricting plan for 2026 election. Democracy Docket. https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/scotus-greenlights-11th-hour-alabama-redistricting-plan-for-2026-election/